


Before You Forget How

by TheMulletWhisperer



Category: Mass Effect Trilogy
Genre: F/F, Halloween Post, Horror, Inspired By Tumblr, Surreal
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-16
Updated: 2018-10-16
Packaged: 2019-08-03 04:43:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 914
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16319393
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheMulletWhisperer/pseuds/TheMulletWhisperer
Summary: You had best wake up.





	Before You Forget How

Shepard awoke in a sweat, bolting upright in her bed. She gripped the comforter that protected her from the outside world. The blackness was suffocating, all-encompassing and impenetrable.  Warily, she let go of her handhold to search for Samantha. Nothing. Empty bed, undisturbed and made perfectly. She was alone. 

Her eyes made an effort to adjust but failed, picking out only abstract shapes in the darkness. There was a single source of light, dampened by the cold black. The light from the tank which held her fish, which seemed empty save for a single tropical individual. Jane reached for her sidearm but grasped something that seemed wrong. Instead of the comforting, rough rubber of a Carnifex she wrapped her hand around something cold and wet with an unnaturally smooth texture. She recoiled and clenched her hand into a fist, slowly sliding her comforter off and swinging her legs over the side of the bed.

The silence had begun to creep into her brain, she could feel it restricting her mind. The only sounds were those she made herself, her breathing, the rustling of the comforter, the soft tap of her feet against the durasteel floors. It was as if something was meant to jump out at her and attack but never did. 

Cautiously, she made her way to the cold glow of the fish tank, the floors freezing the soles of her feet and often giving as if she were walking on thin rubber. Despite herself she began to shake, hugging her arms to her chest as she trekked across the floors of her cabin.

As she stepped into the inviting glow of the tank her feet became warm, tingling and nearly going numb. She ignored the discomfort and drew her eyes to the fish tank, still clutching her hands tightly.

There seemed to be only one life in the tank, one being still clinging to its life. The plants, even those synthetic, were dead and wilted, carried only by the currents of the tank’s stagnant and muddy water. One fish, tropical, black as the night and bright as the sun. It seemed to thrive in the death and the decay.

Shepard reached out and laid her palm flat against the glass, feeling its warmth as she struggled to stand upright. She could almost feel the life radiating from the tank, a life she clung to with all her might.

The fish turned to her and locked its eyes onto hers, drawing her in. It smiled, unnatural and wide, its mouth brimming with mismatched human teeth as if it had stolen them rather than grown them. 

“You had best wake up, Shepard. Before you forget how to.”

 

-/-

 

Shepard gasped deeply, clutching the edges of the cold slab she lay upon. Her vision was similarly dark but she found herself far more comforted by the silence than she had before. The cold was unbearable, and, if not for the sheet over her head, she would’ve expected her breath to fog. 

As she tried to move she found she was trapped, pushing against the cold steel walls surrounding her. “Hey! Let me the fuck out!” She tried to kick at the far end of her prison but found that her feet didn’t connect with anything.

From somewhere beyond her hole she heard a muffled noise followed by a blinding, cold light that cut into her vision. The slab she lay on was pulled out into the open air and she found herself, finally, back in the real world, though she wasn’t where she’d expected.

The morgue, a refrigerator for the dead. She was dead. But she wasn’t.

“Holy  _ shit _ , doctor, get in here!”

The man who’d pulled her from the wall shouted across the room to a man in a lab coat hunched over some experiment. 

“We thought you were dead after the Citadel!” He pulled the blanket off of her and she found that she was fully clothed, though something about her seemed off. As she made to stand despite the protests of the mortician, she failed to find her feet and simply dropped to the ground. She couldn’t find footing anywhere, for her feet were no longer there to provide it. 

She lay on the ground, staring into the fluorescent lights above until a figure appeared above her, twisted and deformed with no eyes. It laid its hand on her face and smiled widely, that same maw of mismatched teeth. 

“Have you forgotten already?”

 

-/-

 

Shepard awoke in a sweat, bolting upright in her bed. She gripped the comforter that protected her from the outside world. The blackness was suffocating, all-encompassing and impenetrable.  Warily, she let go of her handhold to search for Samantha. She let out a relieved sigh as she found the warm, familiar body she was looking for. With her other hand she clicked on her lamp, sliding backward to sit upright against the headboard.

“Mmnh.” Sam muttered and turned over, glancing at Shepard with bleary eyes. “What’s wrong, love?” She rubbed her face, blinking slowly as she adjusted to the sudden light. 

“Just a nightmare, don’t worry about it.” She smiled solemnly and reached out to touch her face tenderly. 

“Mm..kay.” Sam fell back against the pillow and drifted back to sleep in moments as Shepard looked back to the tank on the other side of the room, watching the sparse few fish swim around within. 

That voice, deep and cutting, replayed in her mind.

_ “Before you forget how to.” _

**Author's Note:**

> Oooooooo spooky halloween


End file.
